THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING AND TRUTHFUL ESSAY ( in my opinion) ON HOW FAR AMERICAN CULTURE HAS GONE DOWN THE TUBES.

America's No Class Cultureby Ray Lesser

Some of the finest hotels in America are having a serious problem: People dressed only in bathrobes are wandering through their lobbies, attempting to buy drinks in their club lounges, or trying to get seated for meals at their exclusive restaurants. Even worse, these disheveled visitors aren't escapees from a nearby asylum, or protesters making a statement about the vast inequalities between the rich and poor. No, these are the hotel's own paying guests, wearing the plush, sexy bathrobes that all fine hotels now find it necessary to supply as an amenity, in order to be considered high-class establishments.

I don't know what the story with this is, said Troy Price, a waiter at The Peninsula, a swanky Beverly Hills hotel, who has refused to seat people in bathrobes on the several occasions they've approached. It's not normal.

Then there's the story of a recent wedding reception at an Atlanta hotel, where two robed uninvited guests - the woman with a towel wrapped around her head - wandered into the wedding's buffet area and began helping themselves to food. What's happened to the standards of elegance and dignity that we once had? Where would someone get the nerve to behave like this?

According to Lisa Peterson, 46, the communications director for the American Kennel Club, the main reason she wears a robe in public is because, it alerts the world that I am in a relaxation mode and that I'm pampering myself because I think I'm worth it. Some experts believe that wearing a robe in public is about asserting your status. The new crop of super-rich have cleared the way for the rest of us by dressing down and leaving hotels no choice but to accept it, noted Matt Ray.

Back when I was growing up, the super-rich, and almost everyone else in America, were striving to be much classier. Every August before school started, my Mom would dress up as if she were going to a wedding, complete with hat and gloves, and take me on the bus downtown to shop for new school clothes. No suburban malls existed back then, and department stores like Cleveland's Halle Brothers and Higbee's were some of the finest stores America had to offer. There were many floors of merchandise, and each department was attended by several articulate, well- dressed ladies and gentlemen, eager to help shoppers find the right sizes and styles. After picking out a nice assortment of new school clothes (which I would be expected to change out of after school into play clothes), Mom would take me to the department store restaurant, the fanciest restaurant I ever got to go to. It featured real linen table cloths and napkins, along with soft lighting and background music in an elegantly wood-paneled dining room, filled with well-dressed men and women, and a few well-behaved children, enjoying tea and petite sandwiches. This experience was not limited to a wealthy elite of shoppers; this was inside one of the biggest stores in Cleveland, where vast numbers of middle-class families shopped.

Contrast this to today's back-to-school shopping experience. The major department stores most people choose are the airplane hanger with a drop ceiling (Target) or the one with its ductwork fully exposed (Wal-Mart). The helpful employees, wearing uniforms which originally appear to have been designed for the popcorn vendors at the circus, are mostly there to hand you a gigantic shopping cart, and make sure no one tries to sneak merchandise out without paying for it. If you get hungry, you're welcome to stand in line for a burger at the in-store McDonalds, or take a greasy slice of pizza to one of the many orange plastic booths, next to the fertilizer display near the lawnmower aisle.

thinkin back i can remember as a child when going out for dinner meant that you put on a nice shirt and tie and sitting down with your parents at that same table with linen on it. and the resturant wasn't anything upscale by any means. we were strictly middle class stock often fighting at times to maintain a level that was just one family catastrophy from falling into being impoverished.

no silver spoon in my mouth.

but yet i can and have witnessed how society has morphed into what i see now. for the most part i see nothing but 2 classes instead of just one..........the elites and the rest of us who are fodder that are here to meet thier ends.

I was standing in line at a gas station recently and there was a guy with his pants down around his knees and his boxers hanging out. I was tempted to tell him that Goodwill was a few building down and had great prices for belts.

I try to teach my children Civilization 101. I have a 2 year old that likes to take her clothes off and play naked among the chickens while I am running after her with her discarded dress.

I have a 5 year old boy that would rather throw his shoes in the pond next door than wear them.

I try to teach them acceptable and unacceptable dress and behavior. When we go in public, what they see flies in the face of what we try to teach them.

I try to teach them acceptable and unacceptable dress and behavior. When we go in public, what they see flies in the face of what we try to teach them.

There is much that is going on in society that probably flies in the face of what you try to teach them. Much what we see in society flies upon winds called insanity.

I will say one thing though. I personally don't like the pants down around the knee's thing that many do now BUT clothing or how we wear them does not make a person who they are, these things are superficial and not important. What is inside of each and every one of us is who we are. I don't care if one person is wearing a sack cloth and another is dressed in a tux, if the person wearing a sack cloth is good then he is good, if a person wearing the tux is evil then he is evil, not because of what they are wearing, but because of who they are.

This is something that makes me laugh. So may people do things to their body's or wear certain clothing to show their individuality never realizing that if they really wanted to show their individuality then they should practice what many do not. That would be to grow from the inside. THIS would make them stand out among the crowd in a good way, which is beneficial, rather than standing out by looking silly.

CrimsonEagle

_________________CrimsonEagleThe war to end all wars can only be fought on the front-lines of the mind.

The greatest deception they have perpetrated is that we need them. Our greatest mistake is that we believe them.

While the way a person dresses does not make or break a person, the way a person dresses tells the world how that person sees themselves.

We are conservative Christians (read my intro.) We also live on a working homestead.

I am not going to go to church wearing a skirt I just milked the goats in.

By the same token, I am not going to go pick up a buck (intact male goat not a dollar bill) wearing church clothes.

My children are regularly covered in several layers of dirt. One of my mottos is if a child is not dirty by the end of the day, the child has not done his job. (They get regular baths.)

I clean them up before we go out. Why? Because I want them to understand that we are to have a bit of self respect. Part of teaching that is by carrying ourselves with a bit of dignity. And that means washing the dirt off our faces and putting on clean clothes before going out to eat or going to church.

I think what I saw Saturday in a mall "caps it all," as my grandmother used to say.

It was about 10:00 am. A black threesome were heading toward the same entry door my husband and I were. One of the blacks was a young boy, probably about 13, and both of his arms were in casts, as though he'd broken both wrists. He was wearing a t-shirt normally worn under a shirt. It had no sleeves. He also wore a pair of those silk boxer-like shorts basketball players sometimes wear when warming up before a game. BUT they were pulled down to just under his hips and the skinny hips were covered by a pair of PINK boxer shorts...This "trendy" outfit was rounded out by mid-calf socks and fancy running shoes. TRY TO IMAGINE what that looked like. Here goes this skinny kid, both arms in casts, (nope...that won't work as an excuse...his fingers were free, so he had the use of them), and he's dressed like he's been to the bathroom and didn't get his pants pulled up properly before he left it! I'm assuming the other two people with him were relatives...although how close, I have no way of knowing.

Anyway, he sauntered down the mall. Other early shoppers were turning to look at him, some with shock, some with grins, and some with loud guffaws and pointing fingers! He didn't acknowledge any of the reactions...just kept on strutting...easing on down the mall!

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

I wish uniforms were the norm around here, sadie. Mucho problems which haven't yet been addressed except by trying to instill a dress code. Uniforms would be much cheaper than the usual outfits parents buy for their kids as they return to school, regardless of the level.

My daughter is always lamenting the way the students dress at her high school...AND at the college where I work part-time, the director of my program had to tell a 20 year old student the other day that we had a dress code and she was violating it by showing too much skin. There was very little cloth between the student's neck and her pubic hair! The student didn't get upset. She just said she'd dress differently next time...and smiled innocently. That really got the director's back up! The director told the student she had to fix the problem NOW...so the student went home, and came back properly attired.

The school system is also having problems with cell phones...students texting other students with answers to test questions, for example, holding the phones down under the edge of their desks.

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

Cell phones aren't just a problem in schools. They are a problem in the workplace, too. Employees using their cellphones for personal calls while they are "on the clock" must cause some loss of productivity for their company. My husband recently had to reprimand an employee for using his cell phone on company time to make personal calls and send/receive text messages. There's a company policy that plainly states that all cell phone use is to be confined to their lunch hour and breaks.

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

Not to mention the thought of ever having and nice dinner out somewhere. Cell phones going off everywhere. Loud conversations (even in nicer restaurants).

I have a friend who answers her cell constantly (and she is a professional). We can't have lunch without constant interruptions. It is usually one of her kids. If she doesn't answer - they will keep redialing until she does.

I have wanted so badly to grab her phone and show her where the "off" button is.